3 Winning Trades Likely Missed Due to ‘Fiscal Cliff’

After stocks ended flat in light trading Monday, Jim Cramer complained that ongoing worries over the looming "fiscal cliff" not only put a damper on gains, but obscured some good news that hit the market.

DNY59 | Vetta | Getty Images

In fact, the "Mad Money" host said he actually spotted three winning trades Monday, even as Wall Street fretted over the "fiscal cliff" — a series of enacted legislation, which, if unchanged, will result in tax increases and spending cuts come January 1.

Take biotechnology stocks, for example. Cramer has long recommended owning at least one biotech stock, as well as speculating within the sector. Two biotech stocks he's long recommended, Celgene and Gilead Sciences, closed sharply higher Monday. Celgene's stock rose on news its Abraxane drug showed positive results against pancreatic cancer, Cramer said. Gilead's stock popped after the company reported its Hepatitis C treatment cleared the virus in 100 percent of its study's participants, he added.

"This was a totally "gettable" piece of information that was brought to you right on this show," Cramer said. "But I bet most of you didn't take advantage of it because the situation in Washington so clouds everyone's judgment and creates a horrendous climate of investing fear."

Elsewhere in the market, shares of Sherwin-Williams popped after the paint maker said it will buy Mexico's leading paint company Consorcio Comex for about $2.34 billion, including debt, to tap into the rising demand in the region. Cramer has long recommended SHW as a way to play a turnaround in the U.S. housing market.

Washington, the Cliff & Your Investments

The unwillingness to compromise is preventing a deal being made on the fiscal cliff, and its impacting your investments, explains Mad Money host Jim Cramer.

Speaking of mergers and acquisitions, Titanium Metals surged after Precision Castparts said it will acquire the titanium-based metals products maker for nearly $2.9 billion in cash.

To Cramer, these moves indicate that stocks are just too cheap right now.

"How hard is it to find these deals? Maybe not as hard as it would seem," Cramer said. "All of these companies rallied either because they were too cheap for an acquirer to pass up, which is why the buyer's stock rallied, or too cheap versus their potential, as is the case with the huge one day gains in Celgene and Gilead."

Unfortunately, though, Cramer said these moves eluded most investors due to fears over the "fiscal cliff" — something unlikely to change until the potential crisis is resolved.